All the times that Cedric tried to assure Eden he wasn't going to get chosen for the Triwizard Tournament and his name still emerged from the fire on that fateful Thursday night as the Hogwarts champion, along with Harry Potter but that was a whole other issue going on at the moment.
That anxious, awful feeling that was growing in Eden's stomach the first night back at school has returned and was harder to ignore than ever. It grew and grew in the days leading up to the first task and what made it worse was not knowing what Cedric was going to have to face.
That is until he told her one afternoon in the greenhouse.
"Dragons?" Eden whisper yells. There was no one in there with them but she still felt like someone would hear her if she said it at full volume, "You have to fight a dragon?" Cedric nods, one of his hands resting on the table in front of them as they face each other talking, "Cedric, you don't know how to fight a dragon!"
"I'm aware of that, Eden, thank you." He sighs, "Harry told me, apparently Hagrid showed him where they were keeping the dragons and they did not look friendly." He chews on his lip nervously.
"Well, obviously, Cedric they're dragons they aren't exactly pygmy puffs." Eden finds herself rolling her eyes at him, "Well, I was planning on going to the library tonight so I'll see what books I can find on defending yourself against a dragon."
Cedric gives her an almost odd look, surprised at her kind offer, "You'd...you'd really do that?" he asks.
Eden's face immediately goes pink, not realizing that offering to do such a thing might overstep their line of friendship, "Well, I mean, I'm already going to be there and you're busy so…" She shrugs, tucking her hair behind her ears, "I might as well. Considering I don't want you to get killed by a dragon in the first task, that would be a real downer." She recovers quickly.
He smiles at her, his eyes sparkling with admiration for her, "You're the best person I know, Eden." He whispers, causing her to look up at him and smile shyly, "No one has offered me any help on this yet, except for Harry, I guess." He touches under her chin, as if tilting her head up, "I guess that's why you're my best friend."
"Oh, come off it," she swats his hand away lightly, "I know I'm not your best friend. What about all the guys on the Quidditch team? One of them has me beat, I'm sure." She shakes her head.
"No," He tells her, "I mean, those guys are great and we're all good friends but none of them are as good at listening to me as you are. And you actually really care, and pay attention."
"Well, you're easy to care about." Eden shrugs, suddenly remembering the last time they were in this greenhouse and how he had touched her cheek, how close they had been then.
"Thanks," He grins at her, his cheeks flushed, "and I am also busy, as you have mentioned." He chuckles, grabbing his belongings, "I have to go meet up with the lads and finish this paper for Snape's class."
"Good luck." She smiles at him as he makes his way out of the greenhouse. But then he stops and turns back around, a small laugh leaving his mouth.
"Oh, by the way, did you hear about Malfoy?" Eden turns and frowns at him, indicating that she had no idea what he was talking about, "Moody turned him into a Ferret earlier in the courtyard, it was brilliant!"
"A ferret?" Eden's eyes widened, "He turned him into an actual ferret?" She gasps, "Is he alright?"
"I mean, they changed him right back but I reckon he ran to the hospital wing demanding something was wrong with him." And with that, Cedric finally leaves the greenhouse and Eden waits until he's far enough away before she collects her own things and heads back toward the castle, more specifically, the hospital wing.
"Oh for the last time, Mr. Malfoy, nothing is wrong with you. You may leave." She hears Madam Pomfrey's voice as soon as she enters the long room with beds on either side and she can hear Draco's groans coming from the back of the room.
To her distaste, Clara is there as well by Draco's bedside, holding his hand as he sits on the edge of the bed, "That professor is lucky nothing horrible happened to you."
"He'll get what's coming to him. As soon as my father hears about th-" Draco pauses when he sees Eden approach, her books clutched to her chest, "What are you doing here?"
Clara whirls around and glares at her younger sister, "Yes, why are you here?" She demands.
"I heard about what happened." Eden explains, "I wanted to make sure you were okay." Her eyes are on Draco and she's practically ignoring her sister.
"He's fine," Madam Pomfrey appears behind, "Perhaps this Haywood can convince you to leave, Mr. Malfoy."
"Well, you probably should get to the owlery if you want to get word to your father." Eden says, looking between the two teenagers in front of her.
"Perhaps she's right,' Clara looks at Draco, "I'll go and send a letter off to your father and you," She turns to her sister, "walk him back to the common room and make sure nothing happens to him."
As Clara leaves, Eden turns back to Draco who is sliding his robes back on over his shoulders, "You don't have to walk back with me."
"I don't mind." She shrugs.
"No, I mean you don't have to because I don't want you to." He corrects himself, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder.
As he starts to walk out of the room Eden still follows him, "Yes, but Clara asked me to and if she finds out I didn't she'll be mad at me and I'd like to avoid her wrath as best as I can." She trails behind him, though, as his long legs make it hard for her to keep up with his long strides.
She follows him in silence for a little while, thinking to herself as she practically has to scurry to at least keep him in sight. And then a thought pops into her head that makes her let out a giggle before she can stop herself.
Draco stops, spinning around on the spot and taking more long strides to get back to her, "Is something about all of this funny to you?" He demands, their faces inches apart as his blue eyes narrow.
"I mean, not funny," She blushes, pressing her lips together to try and keep from smiling, "Just...it's ironic that he turned you into a ferret of all things, is all." She shrugs simply, her smile breaking through slightly.
Draco is almost fuming, his fists clenching at his sides, "And why is that?" He spits.
"Well, ferrets are a hippogriff's favorite snack." She tells him, referring to the time the year prior where Draco had been "attacked" but Hagrid's hippogriff Buckbeak.
Draco's pale face goes red and for a second Eden thinks he's going to slap her, but he doesn't, "You really are the little bitch Clara and Bash make you out to be."
Eden's face falls. His words hurt almost more than a slap, and her eyes were definitely starting to sting as if her cheek would. The malice in Draco's words hit her like a train, and while he had said awful things to her before it was something about this moment that made it extra horrible.
Perhaps it was how her heart had started beating faster when he got close to her, or how her palms got sweaty when she looked into his eyes. Maybe it was how butterflies erupted in her stomach when she smelled his cologne, or the goosebumps down her spine when his breath fanned across her face. All those wonderful things she had been feeling for a couple of seconds had been ripped away by his cruel words and it made her heart clench.
Draco pulls back and examines her with disgust in his eyes, "Don't follow me." He hisses, turning on his heel once again and continuing his path to the Slytherin common room.
Eden swallows the lump in her throat and looks around the hallway as Draco's footsteps echo further and further away. No one seemed to witness what just happened and for that she was grateful.
She makes her way toward the library, deciding that working on homework and trying to find something that will help Cedric not get killed by a dragon will take her mind off things. At least, she sure hoped it would.
